TOWN staff are preparing for a rush when tickets for the big FA Cup clash at Chelsea go on sale next Monday.

And it seems thousands of supporters eager to be at Stamford Bridge for the third-round tie will be disappointed.

The Galpharm club have 6,184 tickets (including 13 wheelchair spaces), which cost £25 for adults and £12 for Under 16s and OAPs, for the showdown on Saturday, January 7.

Initially, they will go on sale on a one-for-one basis to season-ticket holders, Blue and White Foundation members and Patrons - and there are more than 9,000 of those!

In the unlikely event of any being left over, they will go on general sale a week on Thursday, December 22.

With the Premiership leaders and reigning champions slashing their normal admission prices, the attendance for the Town game looks sure to top 40,000.

Town haven't played in front of that many since April 1999, when 41,074 saw them go down 2-0 at Sunderland in the old Division I (now Coca-Cola Championship).

Town's last trip to Chelsea - in October 1999, when they stunned the home side with a 1-0 Worthington Cup third-round win - drew only 21,008 to Stamford Bridge.

But the recent success the capital club have enjoyed with the help of Roman Abramovich's millions has helped swell crowds, with 42,060 seeing Saturday's 1-0 win over Wigan, which left Jose Mourinho's side 12 points clear at the summit.

And Chelsea's policy of reducing prices for Cup matches against lower-level opposition has ensured even those ties bring in the punters.